


Snowed In

by Leni



Series: The Kindness of Strangers [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 03:38:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13091634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin might not be the Dark One anymore, but he would always be a man who had lived for centuries with no force that could dictate his whereabouts.Not even nature.





	Snowed In

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilliankayl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilliankayl/gifts).



> Thank you to Lilliankayl for the prompt!

The attic hummed with an energy Belle recognized, as it had all but poured from the walls in the Dark Castle. It had taken Belle weeks of living immersed in that magic to become accustomed to it, but now she felt again the chill of goosebumps over her bare arms as she closed in on the source. 

It came as no surprise that Rumpelstiltskin was already there, standing before the deceptively small coffer he'd brought in after their move and which, he had explained to her, contained most of the magical artifacts that would still respond to him. 

Presently his attention was held by a small tablet covered in runes. Speak the spell inscribed, Belle remembered, and a portal would open. 

Portals had been her husband's particular interest for many years. As every item in Rumpelstiltskin's collection, it was useless to reach the world without magic, but it had enough power to deliver two people to a neighboring kingdom. 

Belle tried not to smile. Rumpelstiltskin might not be the Dark One anymore, but he would always be a man who had lived for centuries with no force that could dictate his whereabouts. 

Not even nature. 

In the Dark Castle, a heavy snowfall had been a mere annoyance, easily overcome with a snap of his fingers. Belle herself wasn't too happy at the prospect of having no contact with the outside world for the next days, but her solution had been to gather her favorite books and pick through her basket of sewing projects for something to distract her. Rumpelstiltskin hadn't lasted even twelve hours after shutting doors and windows before he sought magic. 

"Rumple, love," Belle started patiently, thinking that it wouldn't be the last time she talked a man who'd created spells as easily as she breathed from following the instinct three centuries as the Dark One had instilled in him. "Why are you up here?" 

"Looking for this." He held up the tablet, showing it over his shoulder. That he didn't turn around to face her told Belle he already knew her opinion. He was probably thinking that he'd managed to convince her to see something his way before, and was figuring how to repeat the feat. 

Belle contained a sigh. She loved him, but there was no doubt that becoming friends with the Dark One, difficult as it had seemed the year before, was nothing to the challenge of being wife to the man. "And what is it for?" 

He passed a finger over the top line of runes. "Getting us out of here." 

With slow steps, Belle approached her husband and threaded her arms around him from behind, careful not to jolt the arm that held his cane. "Don't," she said, reaching one hand to cover his where it held the tablet. "It's not worth it." 

His fingers tapped the ancient stone. "We don't need to stay if we don't want to, Belle. I'm not completely useless."

The amusement she'd need harboring at his overreaction vanished at those words. Belle tightened her grasp of him, laying her cheek on his shoulder. His self-assurance had grown in the last months, along with the ability to perform more complex spells, but Belle always forgot that everything he did was a drop compared to the oceans of power the curse had granted him. "You are never useless, Rumple," she told him, hoping her conviction was evident in each word. 

He snorted. 

Belle wondered what it would take to bury that self-defacing attitude for good. Rumpelstiltskin's demons predated the curse, though the darkness had nurtured them, and wouldn't be banished as easily. 

On bad days, when her husband opened the chest that contained Baelfire's remaining possessions and stared at them for hours, Belle felt completely helpless.

Her consolation was the knowledge that her love was never in doubt, not after that life-changing first kiss; but love, not even true love, could cure such deep- seated ills. Belle had found herself often reassuring a new husband that she wanted a lifetime with him, that she actually preferred him without the burden of that wicked curse even when, privately, her heart broke a his despair over the lost power. She believed that her constancy had proved she meant it all. That her happiness in their marriage was a belief he'd come to treasure, but that still slipped from his fingers when he started doubting himself. 

"I don't mind a little snow," she told him. 

Rumpelstiltskin's shoulders shook as he chuckled. "It hasn't stopped in two days. And as you said, it looks like it'll get worse before it clears up." 

Belle gave a little sigh, realizing what had sent him here. "I wouldn't have said that I wanted to see real sunlight, if I'd known this"- she tapped the tablet- "would be your response. But, Rumple, you have to know I never want you here unless it's a dire emergency." 

"I don't care to feel trapped either. I know I shouldn't mind," he said, a dark edge threading into his voice before he shrugged. "I don't think I'd have made a stellar prisoner, you know." 

Belle had heard enough about his original plan to shiver. She never wanted to think of him in a cell, no matter that he would have orchestrated the charade that would lead to it, or how willingly he'd have wandered into it. 

"We're not trapped, love; we're just snowed in," she remarked quietly, loosening her embrace so she could walk around to face him. Her hand came up as if on its own volition, caressing his cheek and then up to smooth the worried lines on his forehead. "It will pass soon enough, and if we still want to leave afterwards, we can take the carriage and go on a short trip." She smiled, liking that idea. She had enjoyed their travels before settling in Hamelin, and though the people had been kind to the retired merchant and the new wife they portrayed, she wouldn't mind seeing new sights again. They could always return home whenever they felt like it. "There's nothing holding us back, Rumple." 

His gaze flicked downwards, to his shattered ankle and the cane that supported it.

Belle took his face between her hands, pulling it down so their noses touched. "Nothing," she repeated. " _Nothing at all_." 

Rumpelstiltskin looked into her eyes for a long moment, until his own filled with renewed warmth and he nodded. "If you say so, dear." 

Belle smiled. "I do." 

He didn't protest as she took the stone tablet and placed it back into the magical coffer. 

"Now,"- Belle grabbed his hand and led their return to the downstairs, her quick mind already planning the swiftest way to distract her husband- "we have a fire, half a dozen books I know you've read and loved too, and the whole evening before us. Any of that giving you ideas?" 

He chuckled knowingly. "You want me to read to you." 

His voice had been the first tangible thing about him she'd found attractive, back when they'd been maid and master; once the snide tones and the mocking laughter were left behind, Belle couldn't get enough of it. "Yes, please." 

"You're still a strange girl, my love." 

The fondness in his voice made her blush. Belle thought of listening to him for the next hour. Then she thought of the cushions and blankets she could pile before the fire on the pretext of the cold outside. 

The picture that followed made her blush even more. 

Laughing, she stopped in the landing and twirled into him, knowing by his sharp intake of breath that her eyes betrayed her thoughts. "Do you have a better idea?" she challenged him. 

Rumpelstiltskin's hesitation passed in another heartbeat, and then his free hand was grabbing her waist and pulling her even closer. "Not at all," he agreed before touching his lips to her. 

The snow kept outside, but Belle and Rumpelstiltskin had stopped noticing. 

 

The End  
21/12/17

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is love. Please feed me?


End file.
